This morning I was reading Paul’s letter to Philemon. As you may know, Paul is writing to Philemon regarding a man named Onesimus. Onesimus owed Philemon a debt and instead of paying off the debt through this servitude he ran away. As he was running away he encountered Paul. As you can imagine, it wouldn’t be long after someone encountered the Apostle Paul that they would hear the gospel. This is what happened to Onesimus and he responded to the gospel message and placed his faith in Jesus. Paul’s letter to Philemon is a request. Paul is requesting that Philemon forgive the debt that Onesimus owes and charge it to Paul’s account. What a great picture of the gospel! The sacrifice of Christ made Paul a sacrificial person for the good of others. You and I share the same faith of Paul, Onesimus, and Philemon. We have the opportunity to share the gospel and our lives with those around us for the glory of God!
A few verses especially stood out to me as I was reading this short letter. Paul writes in verses 4-6:
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of
your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the
saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full
knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
He says in verse 6, “I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective.” Paul is praying that Philemon will continue to share his faith with others in word and deed and in doing so he will grow into a fuller knowledge of Christ. Specifically, Paul challenged Philemon to exercise his faith in forgiving the debt that Onesimus owed and receive him as a brother (vs 15-18).
There are many ways we can “share” our faith with those around us. Ultimately, we know that saving faith comes by hearing the gospel. In all the ways we share our faith we want to help people come to know Jesus. We can share our faith through how we treat those around us. If we treat them in a way Jesus would treat them then we are sharing with them our faith. They are catching a glimpse of the type of God we serve. As our actions reinforce our message, the credibility of our witness grows.
This year we have been seeking to share our faith in two main ways. First, we always want to look for opportunities to tell people how they can have a personal relationship with God through Jesus. Second, we have been trying to make our faith tangible. We’ve been exercising our faith in ways that bless our community and show them a glimpse of the God we serve. As we enter the second half of 2018 we want to continue this emphasis. For the month of July we will be collecting school supplies for Monte Sano Elementary. Throughout the month you can bring in pencils, pens, copy paper, hand sanitizer, notebook paper, glue sticks, markers, folders, notebooks, dry erase markers, and crayons. At the end of the month we will take the supplies to the school where they can distribute them to those that need them. You have been doing a great job so far with the tangible projects! Let’s keep up the good work and bring in more school supplies than ever!
In his letter to the churches, James reminded us at the end of chapter five that anytime is the right time to go to God in prayer. During the month of May I want to challenge you to spend more time in prayer. We have many opportunities to gather for prayer. The Women’s Missionary Union is hosting a National Day of Prayer gathering on Thursday, May 3rd at 6:30pm in the Social Hall. This is a wonderful opportunity to come and spend some time praying for our country.
Also, Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm we will continue to pray for one another, our family and friends, our city, our country, and the world. I want to encourage you to make it a priority to gather with us on Wednesday evenings in May. Our prayer times will look a little different than in the past. Our time will be a guided time of praying for different needs among us as well as for ministry opportunities and effectiveness. We are a praying church and during the month of May I want us to shift our prayers into high gear. I want us to increase our time in prayer in order to be prepared for what God is going to do in and through us this summer. We will have many opportunities to be used greatly by God. Let’s commit ourselves to spend even more time in prayer this month asking God to work mightily among us!
We are two months into 2018. We have been doing a good job of making our faith tangible. We’ve filled our food pantry and we’ve collected hundreds of dollars of Subway Gift Cards. Now it’s time for our next Tangible Project of the Month. Our Tangible Project for the month of March is to give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. We are a very mission minded church and giving to this offering will help get the gospel to those in North America! Here is some information about this offering.
What is the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering?
The offering was started in 1895 by Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) to benefit the work of the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board). In 1934, it was named in honor of Annie Armstrong, a bold missions advocate and WMU’s first national executive leader. Today, more than $1 billion has been donated by Southern Baptist churches and individuals.
How are the gifts used?
Every dollar given goes to train and resource more than 5,000 missionaries involved in church planting and compassion ministries who share the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ across the United States, Canada and their territories. For more information visit namb.net/annualreport.
What is our Church’s goal?
Our goal for this offering is $2,500 and I believe we can reach it! You are a generous people and if each of us contributes then I am confident that we will reach our goal. We can do much more together than we can do individually. Combining our money with other like-minded churches for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission is one of the great strengths of being a Southern Baptist Church. Let’s continue to make our faith tangible in the month of March and reach our goal!
Dear Church Family,
I’m very encouraged by your participation in making our “Tangible” theme a reality. This past month I have heard stories of church members blessing others by buying their meals, encouraging widows and widowers, donating coats and clothing, and replenishing our food pantry with nonperishable food items! Well done and we are just getting started!
I hope you’ve been stretched in your faith like I have. One thing I’ve realized is that these Tangible Tips have caused me to change my routine and carve out time to serve others. Maybe that is true of you as well. Now that our food pantry is replenished are you ready for our next Tangible Project? I am!
During the month of February our Tangible Project is to buy Subway Gift Cards. Subway Gift Cards come in a variety of dollar amounts. You can buy $5 cards, $10 cards, $20 cards, and more. I talked to the manager of the Subway restaurant across the street from the church and she told me that people spend around $500 during a weekday lunch hour. This means that if we can collect $500 worth of gift cards then we will be able to cover an entire lunch hour!
You may be asking, “Why would we want to buy lunch for someone at Subway?” Remember, we are seeking to make our faith tangible to one another and to our community. We want to bless people because we have been blessed by God. Buying lunch for someone is a small demonstration of the generosity of God. I’m looking forward to hearing our church members tell the person in line at Subway, “The Hill Baptist Church is paying for your lunch today.” When they ask us “Why?” we will tell them that we want them to experience a taste of the generosity and love of God.
Here is what I want you to do. Go to a Subway restaurant and buy a gift card. Bring that gift card with you one Sunday in February and put it in the offering plate along with your offering. I will update you each week on how much we have collected. At the end of the month a few of us will head over to Subway and buy meals for our neighbors until we run out of gift cards. Let’s put our faith into action and bless our neighbors!
Dear Church Family,
I’m excited about what’s in store for us in 2018! I believe God is going to do a great work in and through us in the coming year. As I’ve been praying for what God may want us to focus on this year one word kept coming to my mind. The word is “Tangible.” Merriam-Webster defines the word this way:
Tangible - capable of being perceived especially by the sense of touch: substantially real
For us the word “tangible” flows from what James says in the latter part of James 2:18. He writes, “I will show you my faith by my works.” The idea is that if we have faith in Jesus then that faith will show itself in our lives. It will become tangible. Our faith will be able to be experienced to some degree by those around us.
Our theme for 2018 is “Tangible.” We will seek to show our faith by our works. We will seek to bless one another and our community by living out our faith in very tangible ways. To help us do this we will have a monthly project that we will seek to accomplish together as a church. In addition to the church wide monthly project, I will be challenging you each Sunday with a “Tangible Tip of the Week.” This tip will be a practical way for you to bless those around you. What will happen if the people around us begin to experience the works produced by our faith in Jesus? What if they begin to get a taste of the goodness, love, and generosity of God? Only God knows but I have a feeling that we will see more people come to now Christ as Savior as well as more people link arms with us in the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. I believe that at the end of 2018 we will look back and see lives changed. We will give God the glory for how He has used us in the lives of the people of our city. I hope you are as excited about this as I am! Let’s trust the Lord together to take tangible steps of faith as we seek to love God, love others, and make disciples of Jesus Christ in 2018!
Dear Church Family,
As we enter the Christmas season what things come to your mind? Some of things that come to my mind are the birth of Christ, Christmas trees, lights, bells, presents, family, good food, and Christmas music. It’s hard to think of Christmas without Christmas music. Some of you refuse to play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Others of you begin playing Christmas music weeks before Thanksgiving. Perhaps there are some of you that play Christmas music all year long! Wherever you fall on the spectrum I think we would all agree that we look forward to singing the Christmas hymns and songs. In light of our love for Christmas music, I will be preaching a Christmas sermon series entitled “The Songs of Christmas.” Each Sunday during Advent we will look at one of the four most popular Christmas songs. These songs will serve as a springboard that will launch us into the biblical message of Christmas. Do you think you can guess the top four most popular Christmas songs? Join us this Sunday to find out the answer.
Dear Church Family,
As you know, we have been studying Paul’s letter to the Ephesians for the past few months. One of the main points the apostle Paul makes in his letter is that we are united together in Christ. He calls us one body and he tells us that each one of us is a member of that body. We can tend to look at our own bodies and see that our bodies only have so many members or parts. We may replace some of the parts along the way but we don’t add new ones like a third arm or a second nose. What is interesting about the body of Christ is that unlike our physical bodies we can add members to it. Now, obviously Paul is using the body as a metaphor for how we should work together and be unified under the lordship of Jesus but my point still holds true. There is always room in the body for more members.
Our mission to love God, love people, and make disciples of Jesus Christ. Our desire is that more and more people will say “yes” to Jesus by believing the gospel. This is why do many of the ministries that we do such as the Each One Reach One lunches and outreaches, the summer camps, the youth socials, the senior adult gatherings, Vacation Bible School, college outreaches, Easter outreaches, and the many the ways we serve in our community. We want to be a light in our community that points people to Jesus. In order to do these outreaches, these service opportunities, as well as the many ways we seek to make disciples through our many gatherings in our church building it takes funding.
We have three more months to go in 2017 and we have both fixed expenses as well as ministry opportunities we would like to fund. In order to fund these and other items in our budget we need to finish the year strong. We are currently about 15% behind in our giving which equals around $31,000. if we are going to finish the year strong and fully fund both our fixed expenses as well as our ministry initiatives then we all need to give. Would you prayerfully consider helping us end the year fully funded? We’ve accomplished a lot this year with the updating of our Children’s Ministry Area and the mission offerings that we have fully funded. Now we need to seek to fully fund our budget. You are a generous church and I know that you have been giving generously all throughout the year. Now I want to challenge you to continue in that spirit of generosity and help us reach our budget goal. Thank you in advance for your generosity and your willingness to be used by the Lord. Remember, together we can do more than we can alone.
Dear Church Family,
It is time for our next Each One Reach One Outreach. On Sunday, October 29th we will have a covered dish luncheon after the 11am worship service. Remember, the purpose of our Each One Reach One outreaches is that each one of us will participate in reaching out to our community. One way our friends, neighbors, family members, and coworkers will hear the gospel is by joining us for worship on a Sunday morning. Therefore, we want as many people as possible to join us for worship on Sunday, October 29th! As we prepare for this event I want you to do four things.
1. I want you to be there.
2. If you are able I want you to bring a dish.
3. I want you to pray for the people that will be invited that they will come.
4. I want you to bring someone with you.
For this to be a fruitful event, each one of us needs to seek to do those four things. We need all hands on deck! I’m looking forward to how God is going to use this event in the lives of our community.
Dear Church Family,
Our mission is to love God, love people, and make disciples of Jesus Christ. We define a disciple as a growing follower of Jesus. One of the primary ways to become a growing follower of Jesus is by getting involved in a local church. God designed us to be in community with one another which implies that we need to gather with one another regularly for worship. Our church offers many opportunities to gather with other believers throughout the week to study God’s Word together, pray together, serve together, and get to know one another. We also have many ways for you to get involved in God’s mission in our city and around the world. Maybe you’ve been attending our church for awhile and you are thinking about want your next step should be. If so, then we are offering a class just for you!
On Sunday mornings at 9:45am on September 10, 17, & 24 I will be teaching our Next Step Class. This class is designed for those who are thinking about becoming members of our church, those who have recently become members of our church, and for those that want to get more involved in our church. This class is a great opportunity to learn about our church, what we believe, how we’re organized, and how you can become a growing follower of Jesus. The class will meet in room 212 which is located across from the Children’s Ministry classrooms on the Milledge Rd. side of the church building. Everyone is welcome and I’m looking forward to spending these three class times with you!
Someone once said, “God didn’t put a hand on your wrist so your wrist could look good. He didn’t put a foot on your ankle just so you could have something dangling. Every part of you was prescribed to accomplish a function. A nonfunctioning, noncontributing body part is something that you would have checked by a doctor, ‘cause something is wrong.’” It is a blessing when each part of the body works like it is meant to work. In a similar way, the church and the community where it’s located are blessed when the parts of the body of Christ work like they are meant to work.
Romans 12:3-8
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
I’m reminding you of this truth because this summer we will have many opportunities for you to serve. There will be many ways that you will be able to contribute to the mission of the church. During the month of June we are offering a summer camp each week for children. The first week we will be offering a music and drama camp. The second week we will be hosting two backyard Bible camps in two nearby neighborhoods. The third week we will be offering a creativity and construction camp. The last week we will be offering our Vacation Bible School.
In order to offer these mission opportunities we are going to need your help! We need people that will lead small group Bible studies. We need people that will help with refreshments. We need people that will help with recreation. We need people that will help with music, drama, set design, costume design, painting, games, and more! We need you!
All of these camps will take place Monday through Friday between 9am and 12pm. If you would like to help please contact the point person for each week and let them know what you would like to do. Here is who you need to talk to for each week.
Week 1 - Music & Drama Camp - Point Person: Nathaniel Bruner
Week 2 - Backyard Bible Camp - Point Person: Jonathan Beaufort
Week 3 - Creativity & Construction Camp - Point Person: Ron Jones
Week 4 - Vacation Bible School - Point Person: Abbey Sandifer
Also, I want you to invite children that you know that don’t attend a local church to attend one or more of these camps. Each camp will be fun and Christ-centered. Lastly, join with me in praying and asking God to raise up volunteers and children to attend these camps. Let’s pray that God uses these camps in a mighty way in the lives of both the children and the families they represent!
